Lori Luckow Gitomer and Tracy Luckow pose with cans of Whipnotic whipped cream.

Sisters’ Product Is a Hit (with a Cherry on Top)

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The CALS alums—one a comm major, the other a food scientist—teamed up to launch a line of flavored whipped creams

By Melissa Newcomb

Lori Luckow Gitomer ’01 has been a fan of whipped cream since childhood—savoring it on foods like pancakes and (once she arrived on the Hill) scoops of ice cream at the Dairy Bar. Later, the former CALS communication major rediscovered her love for the tasty treat while focusing on health and wellness after the birth of her daughter.

“Whipped cream is a high-fat, low-sugar food that I could eat and stay within the guardrails of my diet,” she recalls. “But I found that it got boring very quickly.” 

The solution: teaming up with her sister, former CALS food science major Tracy Luckow ’99, to launch a line of flavored whipped creams.

A dollop of Whipnotic flavored whipped cream is put on a brownie with ice cream.
Whipnotic flavored whipped cream on strawberry crepes.
The brownie batter and strawberry varieties, in action.

As Luckow told the Cornell Chronicle in advance of the sisters’ appearance at an Entrepreneurship at Cornell conference in spring 2024: “Pre-pandemic, we had seen all these baristas swirling flavors into coffees, and even in pancake restaurants they were putting flavored syrups into whipped cream. We thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to bring some of that excitement and fun into grocery [aisles]?’ It led us down a big rabbit hole of invention.” 

Their brand, called Whipnotic, comes in flavors such as brownie batter, strawberry, and peach mango. It’s available on the company’s website (where a four-pack is priced at $32) and in more than 1,000 stores in 35 states including ShopRite, Kroger, and Fresh Market.

Plus, this fall, Whipnotic will debut two seasonal offerings: apple crisp and peppermint mocha.

This fall, Whipnotic will debut two seasonal offerings: apple crisp and peppermint mocha.

The product, Gitomer and Luckow note, is keto-friendly and contains no high-fructose corn syrup; each two-tablespoon serving has 15 calories and one gram each of sugar and of carbohydrate. It’s packaged in Rochester, NY, using cream from farms in North Carolina.

The sisters even hold a patent on the special nozzle that tops the cans; it contains the flavors, which run in dramatic stripes along the cream as it’s dispensed.

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Four colorful cans of Whipnotic flavored whipped cream
The specially designed nozzles sport a colorful button that dispenses the flavor.

Gitomer and Luckow got some guidance on fine-tuning their product and its delivery system by returning to their Big Red roots: in fall 2020, they worked with experts from the Cornell Center of Excellence for Food and Agriculture, located in nearby Geneva.

“They helped us to get more efficient and food safe,” says Luckow, “and they helped us to scale.”

Around the brand’s launch in 2022, the Washington Post gave it a shout-out in a story on food trends—noting that it’s “punching some nostalgia buttons” as it “promises an upgraded version (no gums or artificial flavorings) of the stuff you frothed right into your mouth when your parents weren’t looking.”

Lori Luckow Gitomer and Tracy Luckow on the Hill as students.
The sisters on the Hill.

In June 2024, Whipnotic’s vanilla salted caramel flavor won the grand prize at the Naturally New York Pitch Slam.

It took home a $150,000 prize package—including a $25,000 monetary award and access to financial and industry advice.

(Another Cornellian-owned company, the vegan jerky brand Jack & Friends, earned a $50,000 package at the same competition.)

At Whipnotic, the sisters divide the responsibilities.

Luckow—who has worked at major food companies including PepsiCo, Danone, and Sabra—handles operations, production, and product development, while Gitomer heads up marketing, finance, and investor relations. 

“My first phone-a-friend in life and work was always Tracy,” Gitomer observes. “If there was ever an opportunity to do something side by side with her, I knew this was it.”

Top: Luckow (left) and Gitomer with their product. (All photos provided.)

Published September 4, 2024

Comments

  1. Kathryn Boor, Class of 1980
    13 Sep, 2024

    LOVE Whipnotic! And these creative CALS grads!

    Reply

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